Profile

Many pirate ships ply Nerites' waters, but few are as feared as the Terrible Omen. Crewed by the toughest mortals and captained by a woman almost legendary in her fame, ferocity, and tenacity; it's said that no ship has ever escaped from its red sails. Tai Lin is the captain of that ship, and most of the legends do her justice. Born a wharf rat in Jilin Province, she hired on with a pirate ship and eventually 'inherited' that same ship via hostile takeover, improving it and fostering almost zealous loyalty from her crew. In spite of her fearsome reputation, she's an easygoing sort, brave and proud of her accomplishments. As the Lunar Exalt, Radiant Red Wing, she is entitled to the rule of Jilin Province. She has yet to accept that rule or to claim her Solar Mate as her King, leaving her province to the mercies of a mildly corrupt Dragon-Blooded Gens. It'll get sorted out, eventually… but for now, wreaking havoc on the high seas is a lot more fun.

Powers

Chosen of Luna: Though mortals refer to her by the name of Tai Lin, she is in actuality Radiant Red Wing, blessed by the power of Luna. This comes with several benefits. She ages much more slowly than a mortal, with a lifespan measured in centuries, rather than decades. Physically, she heals quickly from injury, and is resistant to disease.

Full Moon Caste: Every Lunar Exalt of Nerites belongs to one of five castes. The Full Moon caste generally boasts great dexterity, strength, and resilience. Often warriors, these Exalts often show great martial prowess, and Tai Lin is no exception.

Donning the Cloak of Night: Acting in emulation of Luna, Radiant Red Wing's Anima flares iconic, with the stars and constellations spreading out from her shoulders like a cloak and dimming the light of the sun 'til night appears to fall within her immediate vicinity. This spikes her power beyond her normal scope of ability, but at the expense of inflicting Limit upon her. (Aura Flare 34 -> 35)

Magic: Using magic called "Charms," Radiant Red Wing can surpass the limitations of mere mortals. As a Lunar Exalt, she also possesses another kind of magic known as "Knacks," which focus on and enhance her ability to shapeshift and assume different forms. The charms that Radiant Red Wing knows focus on her physical abilities. They enhance her dexterity to grant her superhuman puissance in combat or with fine manipulation, or lend a supernatural edge to her appearance and abilities, making her look intimidating or fearsome in any form.
It is through Knacks that Radiant Red Wing may assume the shapes of other creatures, supernatural and mortal, huge and tiny, etc. It is also through knacks that Radiant may assume what is called a "War" form, augmenting her physical power beyond even the ability of most Exalted. (OOC: Consent-only where applicable. Not every Charm or Knack is listed here, for much the same reason a mage wouldn't list all of their spells.)

Perfect Defenses: Radiant Red Wing can easily render herself immune to transformatives, effects that prevent her shapeshifting or use of magic, and instant death effects. She may also perfectly parry attacks for which such a defense makes no physical sense. (OOC: Perfect Parry is fluff for coded misses, but may be used freely with GM or Player consent.)"

Crew: As the captain of the Terrible Omen, Radiant Red Wing has a crew of sea-hardened sailors zealously loyal to her command. They won't hesitate to take the Terrible Omen wherever she commands, even if it should mean plunging headlong into certain danger. Her crew is protective of her, but in many cases, they know she can take care of herself. Most of the crew is made up of the toughest mortals she can find, as well as two elementals. Some of the more noteworthy members are as follows:

Ashef: An air elemental. Roughly human-sized, he wears wrappings to denote his shape, and a red armband to identify him as a crewmember. He prefers not to fight, and his task is to shift local winds when the Terrible Omen is becalmed. (PL 26)

Shalash: A water elemental. Roughly human-sized, he takes the form of a water serpent, gliding about on deck or underwater. He prefers not to fight; his tasks are to rescue sailors who fall overboard, and to lessen the severity of storms. (PL 26)

Resources: Radiant Red Wing has amassed a moderate fortune in ill-gotten gains, which can be sold for cash or bartered. These are stored in warehouses all up and down the coast; and her ship, the Terrible Omen, constitutes a small fortune in and of itself. She treats her crew well, and she has useful contacts in places both high and low.
A complete list of available resources can be found in the appropriate +info files.

Shapeshifting: As a Lunar Exalt, Radiant Red Wing is gifted with the ability to change her form. She possesses two true forms and a myriad of other useful forms she can assume. Radiant Red Wing learns more forms through a sacred ritual known as the Sacred Hunt, which involves stalking a target for a day or more, killing it, and then consuming its heart.
Permission is required to stalk NPC targets, and PCs are not and will never be valid targets of the Sacred Hunt. A complete list of known forms, as well as their benefits, can be found in the appropriate +info files.

War Form: Assuming her war form boosts Radiant Red Wing's power beyond the normal scope of her limits, flaring her iconic Anima Banner and identifying her for what she really is. This greatly enhances her strength and speed. (PL 34)

The Terrible Omen: The Terrible Omen is Radiant Red Wing's personal ship, and one of her most treasured possessions. If she had an armada, this would be its flagship. Fast, light, and made for running against the wind, the Terrible Omen is agile in the water and very good at outrunning pursuers. There's no magic in her construction, but her craftsmanship is excellent. She carries no cannon, as her crew usually relies on boarding target vessels.

Flaws

Anima Flare: When she draws too much on her innate magic, Radiant Red Wing can reveal what she truly is to the people around her — a champion of Luna, and one of the Twenty-Five Heavenly Monarchs. First it appears as the filled disk of the Full Moon on her forehead; using more will call up an "Anima Banner." This banner is an iconic display of her power, unique to her alone, displaying a stylized silver phoenix ablaze with moonlight. While this isn't usually a problem, it instantly identifies her as what she is, and that knowledge can sometimes attract all the wrong sorts of attention outside of Nerites.

Bring Me That Horizon: Radiant Red Wing is a free spirit. she's happiest when she's on the open ocean, guiding the Terrible Omen to new horizons… and preying on the "competition." She loathes being stuck on dry land, and will often get bored, quick to find new and interesting ways to get into trouble until she can disembark again. This is usually bad for her health. It leads to things like "picking fights with people that can rip her limb from limb."

Classy Hedonist: Prone to living the freewheeling life of a freebooter, Radiant Red Wing is the kind of person who lives to have fun. She does have some rein on her instincts, such as saving enough money to compensate for losses, or to replace her ship, if anything were to ever happen to it… but in most cases, she's going to choose the "instant gratification" option and not worry too much about the consequences. Even so, she is uncommonly classy about it; enjoying the finer things in life rather than just running off to the closest harbour tavern.

The Great Curse: All Celestial Exalted bear a fundamental flaw in their nature. When they act against their nature, they accumulate supernatural stress known as "Limit." As this grows more severe, it finally reaches "Limit Break," which causes the Exalt to exaggerate, twist, or otherwise pervert their nature in some form or another unique to them.
Radiant Red Wing's ruling principle is Valour. When she achieves Limit Break, she cannot turn down a challenge or slight against her courage, whether real or imagined. She will go to insane lengths to safeguard her dignity, which can often place her in great danger. Limit Break generally lasts for a day before her Limit count is reset.

What's Mine is Mine: Radiant Red Wing is defensive of what's hers. Whether this is her crew, her ship, people she considers close to her, or the oceans that she calls her own in Nerites, she can be extremely territorial about these things. It can cause her to get overly defensive or aggressive if she thinks somebody's trying to muscle in on her proverbial "territory" or otherwise threaten it.

The Hat: Don't touch it. Seriously.

Info Files

Forms

As a Lunar Exalted, Radiant Red Wing has the ability to shapeshift into different forms. To acquire new forms, she must undertake a ritual known as the Sacred Hunt. During this ritual she will stalk, observe, hunt, and ultimately slay her target, consuming their heart's blood. She can then assume the form of any creature she has slain thus.

Valid targets of the Sacred Hunt include animals as small as mice, and creatures as large as a moose or very large draft horse.

Human: Otherwise her ordinary guise, this is Radiant Red Wing's basic form, and one of her three true forms. (PL 33)

Phoenix: Every Lunar has an animal "spirit shape," which is one of the true forms they can assume; in Radiant Red Wing's case, it is her second true form. Hers is that of a phoenix, somewhere between a natural creature and a fire elemental.

While in this shape, her name does her justice. Her presence is commanding, with a wingspan comparable to a condor's, and great plumes of brilliant fiery colours. Her eyesight is keen, and her magnificent wings and tail plumes sport sheets of rolling flame with even the slightest motion. She can manipulate this in minor ways, such as making sure she doesn't do anything dumb like "torch her own ship."

Though she might look delicate, Radiant Red Wing is also a fearsome combatant in this state. In addition to the ability to fly, both her beak and talons are quite sharp, able to inflict injury by biting or slashing with her talons. (PL 32)

War Form: Some Lunars, particularly those of the Full Moon caste, choose to adopt a "war form." This large form merges their human and spirit shape. It is the third of Radiant Red Wing's true forms. In her case, she becomes a great and powerful beast, somewhere between human and phoenix, with extraordinary strength and speed to match. She can still fly on her broad wings; her talons are capable of ripping through metal, and her great beak has the potential strength to sever limbs. (PL 34)

Dock Rat: Occasionally it does well to hide in plain sight. Radiant Red Wing acquired this unfortunate scrap of fur early on in her pirating career, the better to move around unnoticed. It's also a convenient means of escape, allowing her to run away quickly. (PL 18)

Seagull: Sometimes it pays to have a less flamboyant form to fly in, and so Radiant Red Wing hunted down a seagull and consumed its heart's blood. Raucous and aggressive on shore, they're graceful and a common sight to many sailors. Like the ubiquitous dock rat, seagulls are able to hide in plain sight when she wants to take a closer look at something without being noticed. (PL 19)

Dolphin: As a pirate, it should come as no surprise that Radiant Red Wing needed some form that would allow her to swim quickly. She's a strong swimmer as a human, but not that strong; and her phoenix form is completely incapable of it. Therefore, she has taken the form of a dolphin for those times when she needs to be fast in the water, or to go far below the surface. (PL 26)

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